Here Comes a Special Boy
by ann no aku
Summary: Rose asks the Doctor why he isn’t as smart as he claims.


**Here Comes a Special Boy**

ann no aku

**Plot: **Rose asks the Doctor why he isn't as smart as he claims.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Doctor Who

**Notes:** Takes place sometime during Series Two. Title is taken from the song "Here Comes a Special Boy" by Freezepop.

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Rose plopped down on the floor and stretched out her legs. She exhaled deeply, working up the courage to ask the question that had been plaguing her for the past two days. The Doctor, who was absently ignoring her internal struggle, poked and prodded at the monitor with a confused expression on his boyish face.

"Doctor?" she called, fiddling with wiring she had found on the floor.

"Yeah?"

"I was jus' wondering . . ." Rose let her voice trail off.

"'bout what?" He wasn't really listening, but something niggled at the back of his mind, reminding him of the last time she had been curious, and that hadn't gone over very well.

"Well-"

"It's not about my age again, is it? Or my name? Because I told you Rose, I am not answering those questions . . .again." The Doctor turned around to look at her briefly, giving her a warning behind his specs.

"I know," she grumbled, resisting the urge to throw the random piece of wiring at the back of his now turned away head. "Do ya think that maybe if you would 'ave done better at school, then you wouldn't have such a problem with the TARDIS?"

He swallowed hard, willing his body not to still, revealing the shock paralyzing him. Her tone had been casual enough, but he didn't buy it. Instead, all he managed was a squawk of "What?".

With the Doctor's back to her, Rose allowed the smile, which was tugging at the corner of her mouth, to fully form on her face. "I mean," she began, doing her best to keep the humor out of her voice, "I know what it's like not to do so well in school, is all."

"Rose," he spun around on the spot, exasperated and trying his damnedest to hide it. He leaned against the console, crossing his arms stiffly over his chest. "Rose," the Doctor repeated, "What gave you this crazy notion . . .that I didn't . . ." he gulped, "do well at the academy?"

"I jus' read 'bout it . . .somewhere." She shrugged innocently, but her tone gave her away.

"Tell me, Rose, and tell me now." A thousand suspicious ran through his mind, each as unlikely as the next—the library housing his old academy records, the TARDIS, Romana.

"It doesn't matter," she responded, quoting him from when she had asked him about his age. Rose avoided his gaze, still feigning interest in the wire.

"Then why bring it up?" Annoyance stained his words now. He was clearly not amused.

"All you do is fix the TARDIS," she slowly answered. "I mean, is she even yours? Not stolen or anythin', is she?"

His resolution, as well as his sonic screwdriver he had been holding, snapped. The Doctor bit back a cruse, instead he mentally shouted, _Oh, Rassilon!_ "The TARDIS is mine, Rose, has been for the past eight hundred years or so."

"Oh, so you were one-hundred when you stole her, then? Hm," Rose seemed to consider this very carefully. "If you were so young, then why such a crap model?" The ship gave a large and rather unhappy lurch, sending both toppling to the floor.

The Doctor picked himself up from the floor, watching as Rose did the same. "Have you ever been in another TARDIS?" His brain worked furiously, memories of a former companion coming to mind.

"No, but," she smiled, the tip of her tongue poking out between her teeth. "I may have read about other TARDISes. Or would it be like TARDII? You know, when-"

"Rose, I demand that you tell me where you heard all this nonsense!"

"A diary," she answered after watching him squirm for a few minutes.

"A diary," he repeated, his jaw clenched. "Whose diary?"

"I dunno, can't read the name. The TARDIS won' translate all of it." Rose then had a faraway look that the Doctor could only attribute to one having a fond memory of something very, very secret. He didn't like it at all. "Only let me read the good bits."

"Good bits," he echoed. "And, what are these 'good bits'?"

"Oh, you know. Stuff 'bout you an' all." She stood up and brushed her palms on the back of her jeans. "Anyway, sorry I asked."

"Right."

"Jus', uh, one more question. Tha' alrigh'?"

He studied her for a moment, desperately trying to see beyond her act of being non-chalant. "Yeah, alright." He didn't miss her not-so-subtle movement to the door nor her almost impatient hovering.

"What exactly, besides poor test scores and a cheap model TARDIS, did Romana have against you?"

His hearts stopped in his chest as he saw her run down the halls. "ROSE!" he shouted, chasing after her. "Give me Romana's diary!"

"No!" she squealed, her laughter echoing throughout the ship.

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_I hope you liked it. If so, please leave a review!_

_~ann no aku_


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